Hon. ANAYO ONWUEGBU: QUESTIONS RAISED OVER BENEFICIARIES OF APPOINTMENTS ATTACHED TO YOUR NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OFFICE
Hon. Anayo Onwuegbu, member representing Aninri/Awgu/Oji River Federal Constituency, the people deserve clear answers about the appointments, employment opportunities and staffing arrangements attached to your office at the National Assembly.
When election campaigns approach, the people of Aninri, Awgu and Oji River are expected to mobilise, organise the wards, rally supporters and deliver votes. But when it comes to appointments and opportunities connected to the National Assembly, the people have a right to ask whether they are receiving fair consideration.
We therefore demand answers to the following questions:
1. How many aides and staff members are attached to your National Assembly office?
The constituency deserves a complete list of your legislative aides, personal assistants, administrative staff, media personnel and other appointees.
2. How many of these aides are paid directly by the National Assembly?
How many are on the official National Assembly payroll, how many are employed under other arrangements, and what are the criteria governing their appointments?
3. How many of these aides are indigenes or residents of Aninri, Awgu and Oji River?
We demand transparency on their local government areas and communities of origin, subject to appropriate privacy protections. The public deserves to know whether qualified people from the constituency are receiving a fair share of employment opportunities associated with their representation.
4. What about the aides attached to the committees you chair or serve in at the National Assembly?
Are these aides appointed or paid by the National Assembly, by the relevant committee, or through another arrangement? What are their official responsibilities, and what criteria determine their selection?
5. If an aide attached to your committee comes from outside Aninri, Awgu and Oji River, what informed that appointment?
Was the position advertised? Were qualified candidates from the constituency considered? What professional qualifications or experience justified the selection?
Let us be clear: an appointment should be based on competence, merit and applicable rules—not merely on one's local government of origin. However, if qualified people from Aninri, Awgu and Oji River are consistently overlooked, the constituency has every right to demand an explanation.
6. Are you saying that Aninri, Awgu and Oji River have no qualified people capable of serving as legislative aides, researchers, administrative officers, media professionals or committee support staff?
If qualified people exist within the constituency, what measures have you taken to ensure that they are informed about opportunities and given fair consideration?
7. Why should the people of the constituency be remembered primarily when votes and grassroots mobilisation are needed, but have to ask questions about their access to opportunities connected to the office they helped elect?
Representation must mean more than electoral mobilisation. It must include transparent governance, access to information, fair consideration for opportunities and accountability to the people.
OUR DEMAND
We call on Hon. Anayo Onwuegbu to publish a clear account of the staffing arrangements attached to his National Assembly office and the relevant committee positions, including:
- The number of aides and staff members.
- Their official roles and appointment arrangements.
- Which positions are funded directly by the National Assembly.
- The selection criteria and professional qualifications required.
- The number of appointees from Aninri, Awgu and Oji River, where disclosure is lawful and appropriate.
- The process through which qualified constituents can learn about and compete for available positions.
These are not accusations against any individual appointee. They are questions about public accountability, equal opportunities and the responsibilities that come with elected office.
Hon. Anayo Onwuegbu, the people who help secure your mandate deserve to know how the opportunities attached to that mandate are administered.
If our constituency has qualified people, they deserve a fair opportunity to be considered. If they are not being considered, the public deserves a transparent explanation.
Aninri, Awgu and Oji River are not merely electoral territories. They are communities whose people deserve representation, opportunity and answers.
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